Senate Votes to Confirm Hagel as Defense Secretary

After a tough two-month battle characterized by tough interrogation and a partisan divide, the Senate voted 58-41 to confirm Chuck Hagel -- President Obama's nominee -- as secretary of defense this afternoon.

Only four Republicans broke party lines to vote in Hagel's favor. They included Sens. Thad Cochran of Mississippi, Richard Shelby of Alabama, Mike Johanns of Nebraska and Rand Paul of Kentucky, though Paul had voted against moving forward with the vote earlier today.

Before that cloture vote to close the debate and bring Hagel's nomination to a vote, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., warned Republicans against continuing their partisan fight against the nominee.

"Senate Republicans have delayed for the better part of two weeks for one reason: partisanship," Reid said. "Politically motivated delays send a terrible signal to allies around the world, and they send a terrible signal to tens of thousands of Americans serving in Afghanistan, other parts of world and those valiant people who are serving here in the United States. For the sake of national security, it's time to set aside this partisanship."

The measure to move forward passed by a vote of 71-27. It needed at least 60 votes to pass.

Some Republican senators took the time before the vote to take a last stab at Hagel.

John Cornyn, R-Texas, who was one of 15 senators who sent a letter to Obama last week calling for him to withdraw his nomination of Hagel, said Hagel had proved that he's ill-prepared to assume the defense secretary post.

Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense: Confirmation Process Watch Video

Obama Taps Sen. Chuck Hagel for Defense Secretary Watch Video

"There's simply no way to sugar coat it," Cornyn said. "Sen. Hagel's performance before the Senate Armed Services Committee was remarkably inept, and we should not be installing a defense secretary who is obviously not qualified for the job and who holds dangerously misguided views on some of the most important issues facing national security policy for our country. Sen. Hagel is clearly the wrong man for the job."

The Senate returned today after a week off from debating Hagel's pros and cons.

Today's was not the first attempt to bring Hagel's nomination to the floor.

Republicans blocked a cloture vote to confirm Hagel on Valentine's Day, pushing the decision back until after their President's Day recess.

Democrats framed that rejection as a filibuster, while Republicans said they needed another week to discuss the candidate's record.

"This is a very controversial nominee. There is a desire to not end debate now," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said that Thursday. "We feel like come back next week, after the break, unless there is some bombshell I'd be ready to move on to vote."

Ten days later, GOP Sens. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and John McCain of Arizona predicted the Senate would go through with a vote today.

A group of 15 Republicans sent a letter to Obama last week asking him to withdraw Hagel's nomination. Coburn, one of the senators who signed that letter, said the fight among lawmakers over Hagel's qualifications would weaken him should he become secretary.

"I like Chuck Hagel as an individual, but the fact is, in modern times, we haven't had one defense secretary that's had more than three votes against him," Coburn said on "Fox News Sunday" this weekend. "And you're going to have 40 votes against him, or 35 votes. And that sends a signal to our allies as well as our foes that he does not have broad support in the U.S. Congress, which limits his ability to carry out his job."

McCain did not sign that letter.

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Huge protest vote pushes Italy towards deadlock

ROME (Reuters) - A huge protest vote by Italians enraged by economic hardship and political corruption pushed the country towards deadlock after an election on Monday, with voting projections showing no coalition strong enough to form a government.

With more than two thirds of the vote counted, the projections suggested the center left could have a slim lead in the race for the lower house of parliament.

But no party or likely coalition appeared likely to be able to form a majority in the upper house or Senate, creating a deadlocked parliament - the opposite of the stable result that Italy desperately needs to tackle a deep recession, rising unemployment and a massive public debt.

Such an outcome has the potential to revive fears over the euro zone debt crisis, with prospects of a long period of uncertainty in the zone's third largest economy.

Italian financial markets took fright after rising earlier on hopes for a stable and strong center-left led government, probably backed by outgoing technocrat premier Mario Monti.

The projected result was a stunning success for Genoese comic Beppe Grillo, leader of the populist 5-Star Movement, who toured the country in his first national election campaign hurling obscenity-laced insults against a discredited political class.

With vague election promises and a team of almost totally unknown candidates, the shaggy haired comedian channeled pure public anger against what many see as a sclerotic and useless political system.

The likely result was also a humiliating slap in the face for colorless center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani, who appeared to have thrown away a 10-point opinion poll lead less than two months ago against Silvio Berlusconi's center right.

Berlusconi, 76, who staged an extraordinary comeback from sex and corruption scandals since diving into the campaign in December, appeared to be leading in the Senate race, but Grillo's projected bloc of Senators would leave him well short of a majority.

Projections gave Bersani's center-left alliance a lead of less than one percentage point in the lower house. If confirmed, that would be enough to control the chamber because of election laws that guarantee a 54 percent majority to the party with the largest share of the vote.

In the Senate the picture was different. The latest projection from RAI state television showed Berlusconi's bloc winning 112 Senate seats, the center-left 105 and Grillo 64, with Monti languishing on only 20 after a failed campaign which never took off. The Senate majority is 158.

Berlusconi, a master politician and communicator, wooed voters with a blitz of television appearances and promises to refund a hated housing tax despite accusations from opponents that this was an impossible vote buying trick.

Grillo has attacked all sides in the campaign and ruled out a formal alliance with any group although it was not immediately known how he would react to his stunning success or how his supporters would behave in parliament.

DANGER OF NEW ELECTION

A bitter campaign, fought largely over economic issues, made some investors fear a return of the kind of debt crisis that took the euro zone close to disaster and brought the technocrat Monti to office, replacing Berlusconi, in 2011.

The projected results showed more than half of Italians had voted for the anti-euro platforms of Berlusconi and Grillo.

Officials from both center and left warned that the looming deadlock could make Italy ungovernable and force new elections.

A center-left government either alone or ruling with Monti had been seen by investors as the best guarantee of measures to combat a deep recession and stagnant growth in Italy, which is pivotal to stability in the currency union.

The benchmark spread between Italian 10-year bonds and their German equivalent widened from below 260 basis points to above 300 and the Italian share index lost all its previous gains after projections of the Senate result.

"These projections suggest that we are heading for an ungovernable situation", said Mario Secchi, a candidate for Monti's centrist movement.

Stefano Fassina, chief economic official for Bersani's center-left, said: "The scenario from the projections we have seen so far suggests there will be no stable government and we would need to return to the polls."

If the results are confirmed the only possibility looks like a "grand coalition" combining right and left, like the one Monti led for a year. But politicians said before the vote this could not work for long and would struggle to work decisively.

Monti helped save Italy from a debt crisis when Rome's borrowing costs were spiraling out of control, but few Italians now see him as the savior of the country, in its longest recession for 20 years.

Grillo's movement rode a huge wave of voter anger about both the pain of Monti's austerity program and a string of political and corporate scandals. It had particular appeal for a frustrated younger generation shut out of full-time jobs.

"I'm sick of the scandals and the stealing," said Paolo Gentile, a 49-year-old Rome lawyer who voted for 5-Star.

"We need some young, new people in parliament, not the old parties that are totally discredited."

Berlusconi, a billionaire media tycoon, exploited anger against Monti's austerity program, accusing him of being a puppet of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, but in many areas Grillo was a bigger beneficiary of public discontent.

Italy desperately needs a strong, reform-minded government to revive growth after two decades of stagnation and address problems ranging from record youth unemployment to a dysfunctional justice system and a bloated public sector.

Italians wrung their hands at prospects of an inconclusive result that will mean more delays to these reforms.

"It's a classic result. Typically Italian. It means the country is not united. It is an expression of a country that does not work. I knew this would happen," said 36-year-old Rome office worker Roberta Federica.

Another office worker, Elisabetta Carlotta, 46, shook her head in disbelief. "We can't go on like this," she said.

(Additional reporting by Stefano Bernabei, Steve Scherer, Gavin Jones, Naomi O'Leary and Giuseppe Fonte in Rome and Lisa Jucca in Milan; Writing by Barry Moody; Editing by Peter Graff)

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Football: Brilliant Bale shines again as Spurs edge thriller

LONDON: Gareth Bale fired Tottenham into third place in the Premier League as his sublime last minute goal capped a majestic performance in a 3-2 win over West Ham at Upton Park on Monday.

Bale has been in the form of his life in recent weeks and the Wales winger added another chapter to his growing legend with a brilliant brace that would surely have been appreciated by Hammers legend Bobby Moore, whose death 20 years ago was marked by a moving pre-match tribute.

Moore, regarded as one of the best defenders in the history of the game, famously captained England to World Cup glory in 1966 and also led West Ham to FA Cup and Cup Winners' Cup triumphs.

But even Moore might have been hard pressed to subdue Bale in this mood.

Bale had given Spurs a first half lead but an Andy Carroll penalty and Joe Cole's strike put West Ham ahead by the hour mark.

Gylfi Sigurdsson came off the bench to equalise and Bale produced a simply remarkable long-range winner to move Tottenham, unbeaten in their last 11 league games, two points clear of Chelsea and four ahead of fifth placed Arsenal, who visit White Hart Lane on Sunday.

"Gareth Bale is unbelievable, a super talent. We have seen him at another level this season," Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas said.

"He makes the difference in every single game. Players like this assume responsibility at key moments. When you see him joyful on the pitch he gives you rewards.

"The gap to second place is not big and we have a chance to put Arsenal away on Sunday."

Bale added: "It's not about me, it's about the team and we played really well.

"We obviously wanted to get the three points to keep our Champions League hopes alive."

Bale underlined his claims as the best player in the Premier League with yet another moment of magic to put Spurs ahead in the 13th minute.

He was surrounded by West Ham defenders on the edge of the penalty area, but, drifting away from James Collins, he cleverly worked space for a shot and as West Ham's back-four hesitated the Welsh winger drove a low strike past Jussi Jaaskelainen.

That was Bale's 22nd goal for club and country this season, as well as his eighth in his last seven games.

But West Ham responded well to that setback and grabbed an equaliser in the 25th minute.

Kevin Nolan laid the ball off to Carroll in a dangerous position in the penalty area and former West Ham midfielder Scott Parker, lunging in to block, made clear contact on Carroll, forcing referee Howard Webb to give the spot-kick.

England forward Carroll, on loan from Liverpool, stepped up to smash the penalty past Hugo Lloris for his third goal of the season.

Jan Vertonghen almost restored Tottenham's lead in the opening moments of the second half when his cross deflected off Guy Demel and forced Jaaskelainen into a scrambling save.

Jaaskelainen, called into action again from the resulting corner to push away Steven Caulker's towering header, was keeping Spurs at bay almost single-handed.

He turned Sigurdsson's long-range shot onto a post and when the rebound fell to Emmanuel Adebayor, the Hammers goalkeeper leapt to his feet to block the follow-up.

After those escapes, West Ham moved ahead in the 58th minute when Cole collected Joey O'Brien's lofted pass with a fine first touch and turned to bury his shot beyond Lloris.

Tottenham kept pressing and, after Matt Taylor missed a golden chance to extend West Ham's lead, the visitors levelled when Sigurdsson prodded home at the far post from Bale's free-kick.

That set the stage for a pulsating finish and after more heroics from Jaaskelainen, Bale took charge, producing a truely stunning strike from 30 yards to seal the points.

- AFP/ac

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Army renews hunt for bunker-bursting rifles 8 years after bribery scandal

NEW DELHI: The Army is launching a fresh hunt for anti-material rifles, meant for "bunker-bursting" as well as "penetrating" light-armoured vehicles, eight years after its earlier project with South African company Denel got derailed mid-way due to kickback allegations and political mudslinging.

The Army is now ready with the technical parameters, or GSQRs (general staff qualitative requirements), for the fresh global tender for the anti-material rifles. The force wants the rifle — weighing not over 15 kg to ensure two soldiers can carry it -- with an effective range of over 1,000-metre to take on enemy bunkers and other field fortifications, "soft-skinned" armoured vehicles and low-flying helicopters, say sources.

The new anti-material rifle project will be a major one, with the first lot being imported directly and the rest indigenously manufactured after transfer of technology (ToT). The Army, apart from its other arms, wants each of its 355 infantry battalions to have at least four such specialized rifles that can fire special calibre high-explosive incendiary/armour-piercing ammunition.

The long-delayed quest for these rifles is just one of the several military modernization projects that have gone for a toss due to corruption scams and consequent blacklisting of armament majors. "The guilty should be hung...the entire procurement system needs to be overhauled to ensure national security requirements are not hit time and again," said a senior officer.

For instance, Army's failure to induct even a single advanced 155mm artillery gun since the Bofors scandal of the mid-1980s. "Blacklisting has proven counter-productive. Most major artillery manufacturers, like Denel, Rheinmetall, Singapore Technologies and Soltam, are blacklisted by India...It's only now the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) and private players like the Tatas are developing 155mm howitzers," said a MoD official.

The anti-material rifles' story is similar. The UPA-I government in April 2005 had put on hold all dealings with Denel after it came to light that 12.75% commission was allegedly paid to a firm, Varas Associates, to swing the five contracts signed between July 1999 and March 2005.

The contracts were for 700 anti-material rifles and 398,000 rounds of ammunition, followed by ToT to OFB along with "knocked down kits" for another 300 rifles. The Army had inducted just around 300 rifles when the CBI registered the case in June 2005.

At that time, the Congress was using the case — along with the emergency purchases for the 1999 Kargil conflict and the Tehelka tapes — to go after George Fernandes, who was the defence minister in the NDA regime when the initial rifle contracts were inked. The CBI, however, is yet to make any major headway in the case.

Now, Army wants to induct light-weight anti-material rifles that are "man-portable" with a two-jawan crew. "The Denel rifles, while they have performed well, are quite heavy at 28-29 kg apiece. There are also major problems in importing its specialized bullets and ammunition," said an officer.

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Mediterranean-style diets found to cut heart risks

Pour on the olive oil, preferably over fish and vegetables: One of the longest and most scientific tests of a Mediterranean diet suggests this style of eating can cut the chance of suffering heart-related problems, especially strokes, in older people at high risk of them.

The study lasted five years and involved about 7,500 people in Spain. Those who ate Mediterranean-style with lots of olive oil or nuts had a 30 percent lower risk of major cardiovascular problems compared to those who were told to follow a low-fat diet but who in reality, didn't cut fat very much. Mediterranean meant lots of fruit, fish, chicken, beans, tomato sauce, salads, and wine and little baked goods and pastries.

Mediterranean diets have long been touted as heart-healthy, but that's based on observational studies that can't prove the point. The new research is much stronger because people were assigned diets to follow for a long time and carefully monitored. Doctors even did lab tests to verify that the Mediterranean diet folks were consuming more olive oil or nuts as recommended.

Most of these people were taking medicines for high cholesterol and blood pressure, and researchers did not alter those proven treatments, said one study leader, Dr. Ramon Estruch of Hospital Clinic in Barcelona.

But as a first step to prevent heart problems, "we think diet is better than a drug" because it has few if any side effects, Estruch said. "Diet works."

Results were published online Monday by the New England Journal of Medicine and were discussed at a nutrition conference in Loma Linda, Calif.

People in the study were not given rigid menus or calorie goals because weight loss was not the aim. That could be why they found the "diets" easy to stick with — only about 7 percent dropped out within two years. There were twice as many dropouts in the low-fat group than among those eating Mediterranean-style.

Researchers also provided the nuts and olive oil, so it didn't cost participants anything to use these relatively pricey ingredients. The type of oil may have mattered — they used extra-virgin olive oil, which is minimally processed and richer than regular or light olive oil in the chemicals and nutrients that earlier studies have suggested are beneficial.

The study involved people ages 55 to 80, just over half of them women. All were free of heart disease at the start but were at high risk for it because of health problems — half had diabetes and most were overweight and had high cholesterol and blood pressure.

They were assigned to one of three groups: Two followed a Mediterranean diet supplemented with either extra-virgin olive oil (4 tablespoons a day) or with walnuts, hazelnuts and almonds (a fistful a day). The third group was urged to eat a low-fat diet heavy on bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, fruits, vegetables and fish and light on baked goods, nuts, oils and red meat.

Independent monitors stopped the study after nearly five years when they saw fewer problems in the two groups on Mediterranean diets.

Doctors tracked a composite of heart attacks, strokes or heart-related deaths. There were 96 of these in the Mediterranean-olive oil group, 83 in the Mediterranean-nut group and 109 in the low-fat group.

Looked at individually, stroke was the only problem where type of diet made a big difference. Diet had no effect on death rates overall.

The Mediterranean diet proved better even though its followers ate about 200 calories more per day than the low-fat group did. The study leaders now are analyzing how each of the diets affected weight gain or loss and body mass index.

The Spanish government's health research agency initiated and paid for the study, and foods were supplied by olive oil and nut producers in Spain and the California Walnut Commission. Many of the authors have extensive financial ties to food, wine and other industry groups but said the sponsors had no role in designing the study or analyzing and reporting its results.

Rachel Johnson, a University of Vermont professor who heads the American Heart Association's nutrition committee, said the study is very strong because of the lab tests to verify oil and nut consumption and because researchers tracked actual heart attacks, strokes and deaths — not just changes in risk factors such as high cholesterol.

"At the end of the day, what we care about is whether or not disease develops," she said. "It's an important study."

Rena Wing, a weight-loss expert at Brown University, noted that researchers provided the oil and nuts, and said "it's not clear if people could get the same results from self-designed Mediterranean diets" — or if Americans would stick to them more than Europeans who are used to such foods.

Dr. George Bray of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La., said he would give the study "a positive — even glowing — comment" and called it "the best and certainly one of the largest prospective dietary trials ever done."

"The data are sufficiently strong to convince me to move my dietary pattern closer to the Mediterranean Diet that they outline," he added.

Another independent expert also praised the study as evidence diet can lower heart risks.

"The risk reduction is close to that achieved with statins," cholesterol-lowering drugs, said Dr. Robert Eckel, a diet and heart disease expert at the University of Colorado.

"But this study was not carried out or intended to compare diet to statins or blood pressure medicines," he warned. "I don't think people should think now they can quit taking their medicines."

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Online:

Journal: http://www.nejm.org

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Marilynn Marchione can be followed at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP

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Arias Had No Remorse: Prosecutor

Prosecutor Juan Martinez hammered alleged murderer Jodi Arias today with accusations that she felt no remorse when she lied over and over again about killing her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander.

"Ma'am you have a problem with telling the truth don't you?" Martinez asked as his first question today, the 11th day Arias has been on the stand explaining her role in Alexander's death.

"Not typically," Arias responded.

Martinez then took Arias through a series of lies she admittedly told in the days after she stabbed and shot Alexander to death on June 4, 2008, lying to friends, investigators and even Alexander's grandmother, going so far as to send a dozen irises to his grandmother expressing her sympathy.

See the Evidence in the Jodi Arias Murder Trial

Arias, 32, has testified that she killed Alexander in self-defense during a violent argument and lied about it out of "shame."

But prosecutors say that the 27 stab wounds, a slashed throat, and two bullets she fired at Alexander's head prove that she murdered him. She could face the death penalty if convicted.

Catching Up on the Trial? Check Out ABC News' Jodi Arias Trial Coverage

Today Martinez tried to raise doubts about Arias' earlier testimony in which she depicted Alexander as an increasingly menacing and sexually demanding lover by grilling her about the lies she told after she killed Alexander.

Martinez pointed out that Arias lied to Detective Esteban Flores of the Mesa, Ariz., police department as he investigated Alexander's death. She initially denied to the detective that she was at Alexander's Mesa, Ariz., home when he was killed, and later said he was murdered by a pair of masked intruders.

Jodi Arias Testimony: Prosecution's Cross-Examination Watch Video

Jodi Arias Remains Calm Under Cross-Examination Watch Video

Jodi Arias Doesn't Remember Stabbing Ex-Boyfriend Watch Video

"You told (Flores) you would help him, but that was a lie right? You weren't there to tell the truth. You were there for another purpose: to make sure he didn't get the truth.... You were hoping, ma'am, that (Flores) would believe what you were saying so you could walk out of jail," Martinez said.

Arias argued with Martinez, claiming that she lied to investigators out of shame, and lied to friends immediately after the death out of confusion.

"My mind wasn't right during all that period," Arias said referring to the hours immediately following the killing when she drove through the Arizona desert and made phone calls to ex-boyfriend Matthew McCartney and new love interest Ryan Burns.

"It's like I wasn't accepting it in my mind... because I never killed anyone before," she said.

Martinez also suggested that Arias tried to find out the status of the investigation into Alexander's death so that she could know if she were about to be arrested. When a friend of Alexander's called her to report the news about Alexander's death, Arias asked about details into the investigation, the prosecutor said. She also called Alexander's Mormon bishop and asked him what he knew about the case, and then asked friends and family members what they knew, according to Martinez.

"You needed to see what you needed to know to make sure you weren't charged. What purpose would there be for that information other than to benefit you?" Martinez asked. "You called [the bishop] at 3 a.m. You call him and spoke to him because you wanted to get the information about what he knew about the investigation. That was going to help you."

Timeline of the Jodi Arias Trial

Martinez also went over lies that Arias told to her friend, Leslie Udy, and Ryan Burns, both of whom she saw in Utah the day after killing Alexander. She talked to both about Alexander as if he were still alive. Martinez pointed out that Arias even made out with Burns in his bedroom during their visit.

But Arias claimed that it was Burns who lied about their encounter.

"And with Mr. Burns, didn't you get on top of him and grind on him?" Martinez asked.

Arias said she was on top of Burns at one point, but they did not "grind."

"Well, when you were romantic kissing, he did put his hand between your legs, didn't he?" Martinez said, referring to Burns' own testimony in court weeks earlier.

"No," Arias said. "It could be that he's full of crap...when he says he got near my vaginal area."

"This is the person who lied to him, to (friends), to Detective Flores, and yet you're telling us someone else is full of crap," Martinez asked incredulously.

"When it comes to that, yes," she said.

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Syrian opposition says captures former nuclear site

AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian rebels have captured the site of a suspected nuclear reactor near the Euphrates river which Israeli warplanes destroyed six years ago, opposition sources in eastern Syria said on Sunday.

Al-Kubar site, around 60 km (35 miles) west of the city of Deir al-Zor, became a focus of international attention when Israel raided it in 2007. The United States said the complex was a North Korean-designed nuclear reactor geared to making weapons-grade plutonium.

Omar Abu Laila a spokesman for the Eastern Joint Command of the Free Syrian Army said the only building rebels found at the site was a hangar containing at least one Scud missile.

"It appears that the site was turned into a Scud launch base. Whatever structures it had have been buried," he said, adding that three army helicopters airlifted the last loyalist troops before opposition fighters overran the area on Friday.

The Syrian military, which razed the site after the Israeli raid, said the complex was a regular military facility but refused to allow the International Atomic Energy Agency unrestrained access, after the agency said the complex could have been a nuclear site.

The U.N. investigation appears to have died down since the national revolt against Preident Bashar al-Assad broke out in 2011, with the armed opposition increasingly capturing military sites in rural areas and on the edges of cities.

U.N. inspectors examined the site in June 2008 but Syrian authorities has barred them access since.

Abu Laila said Scuds appear to have been fired from Kubar at rebel-held areas in the province of Homs to the west.

The complex, he said, had command and control links with loyalist troops in the city of Deir al-Zor, where Assad's forces have been on the retreat and are now based mainly in and around the airport in the south of the city.

Footage showed fighters inspecting the site and one large missile inside a hangar. One fighter pointed to what he said were explosives placed under the missile to destroy it before attacking forces got to it.

Abu Hamza, a commander in the Jafaar al-Tayyar brigade, said in a YouTube video taken at Kubar that various rebel groups, including the al Qaeda linked al-Nusra front, took part the operation and that U.N. inspectors were welcome to come and survey the site.

In the last few months, opposition fighters have captured large swathes of the province of Deir al-Zor, a Sunni Muslim desert oil producing region that borders Iraq, including most of a highway along Euphrates leading to Kubar.

The province is far from the Assad's main military supply bases on the coast and in Damascus. Long-time alliances between Assad, who belongs to the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Islam, and Sunni tribes in Deir al-Zor have also largely collapsed since the revolt.

But Assad's forces remain entrenched in the south of the city of Deir al-Zor and armed convoys guarded by helicopters still reach the city from the city of Palmyra to the southwest, according to opposition sources.

(Editing by Stephen Powell)

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Football: Inter - Milan share spoils as Balotelli returns to derby

MILAN: AC Milan striker Mario Balotelli missed a handful of chances in his first derby in over three years as the Rossoneri shared the spoils in a 1-1 derby draw with hosts Inter Milan here Sunday.

Milan took a 21st minute lead through striker Stephan El Shaarawy and dominated throughout before ultimately lamenting their earlier misses when Inter midfielder Ezequiel Schelotto levelled in the 71st minute.

Inter were given a pre-match boost with the inclusion of central defender Andrea Ranocchia, who had been an injury doubt all week.

Yet despite Milan's 1-0 defeat to the Nerazzurri at the San Siro earlier in the campaign, the visitors started the second 'Derby della Madonnina' as firm favourites having stunned Barcelona 2-0 in their Champions League first leg here last week and climbed up to third place in the table.

Milan enjoyed the share of the early chances with Sulley Muntari and Mattia De Sciglio testing Samir Handanovic, while Inter striker Antonio Cassano saw a lame shot easily collected by Christian Abbiati.

However, the visitors spurned the first of several clear chances, Balotelli slipping in front of goal after Kevin Prince Boateng had left Mattia De Sciglio's cross from the left wing at his feet.

At the other end forward Rodrigo Palacio should have done better with an angled strike that went well side of Abbiati's far post.

Milan began to dictate play and were finding options down the left where De Sciglio's long runs were giving the hosts trouble.

When former Milan striker Cassano lost possession in midfield, Boateng collected and coolly sent El Shaarawy through to beat Handanvoic with an angled shot with the outside of his boot.

Milan threatened again when Balotelli rose to meet a corner from the right which had Handanovic scrambling for the ball on the goalline.

Balotelli's third clear chance followed moments later when he toe-poked a probing ball into the box only for it to be cleared.

Handanovic easily collected Balotelli's header from Ignazio Abbate's cross from the right but on 40 minutes the 'keeper was at full stretch to parry when Balotelli thumped a freekick from 30 metres out.

Milan threatened from the outset of the second half, Boateng flashing a header wide from Montolivo's freekick on the right after El Shaarawy had been hauled down.

Freddy Guarin gave Inter's fans hope when he first-timed Palacio's whipped cross in from the right only for Abbiati to pull off a superb save at full stretch.

On 57 minutes Balotelli flashed a header wide from a freekick but was left far more frustrated when Handanovic bravely blocked as the striker got in close to try and prod the ball home from a cross on the right.

Milan were still dominating, but the visitors were stunned in the 71st minute when Schelotto got on the end of Yuto Nagatomo's cross to stun Abbiati only two minutes after replacing Cambiasso.

Inter had the momentum and moments later Palacio's header to the right of Abbiati's goal had the keeper scrambling, although at the other end Muntari sent a looping shot just to the right of an outstretched Handanovic.

Milan regrouped to dominate the final quarter hour, with El Shaarawy's ambitious bicycle kick blocked and then M'Baye Niang, who replaced Boateng with 10 minutes to go, seeing his low strike meet traffic in the area.

However the Rossoneri were lucky not to suffer a late Inter goal against the run of play when Palacio saw a header go close.

- AFP/jc

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How Indian diplomacy ended crisis in Maldives

NEW DELHI: It was an "understanding" between India and Maldives that resolved an embarrassing political situation in the island country after former president Mohamed Nasheed took refuge inside the Indian high commission, drawing India into the heart of the ongoing political crisis there.

The resolution, which showcased Indian diplomacy at its most effective, confirmed India's position as the pre-eminent power in the Indian Ocean.

Both countries have denied there was a "deal", and there wasn't. Since the moment Nasheed became a refugee in the mission, India and Maldives and, after a while, even Nasheed himself, were looking for a way to end the agony.

On the Indian side, the initiative was led jointly by NSA Shivshankar Menon and foreign minister Salman Khurshid. Khurshid spoke with his counterpart Abdul Samad Abdulla several times in the past week to soften up the government there to the fact that a face-saving solution had to be found for all concerned.

Menon undertook the more complex job of directing the Indian effort, issuing instructions to the Indian team as well as keeping the larger picture of national interest in view. Foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai worked the phones with his counterpart and other leaders in Male from Washington DC where he was travelling. But it was the low-key actions of Harsh Vardhan Shringla, joint secretary in the ministry of external affairs, that finally won the day in Male.

Shringla and his team met an entire cross-section of the Maldives leadership — defence minister Mohamed Nazim, foreign minister Abdul Samad Abdulla, attorney general Aishath Azima Shakoor, even Abdulla Yamin, leader of the Progressive Party of Maldives (Gayoom's party), as well as acting foreign secretary Abdul Azeez Yoosuf, among others. The mission was two-fold — first to convince them that India had no role to play in the political crisis.

Second, to make sure that the election process in Maldives had the field open for all candidates.

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FDA approves new targeted breast cancer drug

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a first-of-a-kind breast cancer medication that targets tumor cells while sparing healthy ones.

The drug Kadcyla from Roche combines the established drug Herceptin with a powerful chemotherapy drug and a third chemical linking the medicines together. The chemical keeps the cocktail intact until it binds to a cancer cell, delivering a potent dose of anti-tumor poison.

Cancer researchers say the drug is an important step forward because it delivers more medication while reducing the unpleasant side effects of chemotherapy.

"This antibody goes seeking out the tumor cells, gets internalized and then explodes them from within. So it's very kind and gentle on the patients — there's no hair loss, no nausea, no vomiting," said Dr. Melody Cobleigh of Rush University Medical Center. "It's a revolutionary way of treating cancer."

Cobleigh helped conduct the key studies of the drug at the Chicago facility.

The FDA approved the new treatment for about 20 percent of breast cancer patients with a form of the disease that is typically more aggressive and less responsive to hormone therapy. These patients have tumors that overproduce a protein known as HER-2. Breast cancer is the second most deadly form of cancer in U.S. women, and is expected to kill more than 39,000 Americans this year, according to the National Cancer Institute.

The approval will help Roche's Genentech unit build on the blockbuster success of Herceptin, which has long dominated the breast cancer marketplace. The drug had sales of roughly $6 billion last year.

Genentech said Friday that Kadcyla will cost $9,800 per month, compared to $4,500 per month for regular Herceptin. The company estimates a full course of Kadcyla, about nine months of medicine, will cost $94,000.

FDA scientists said they approved the drug based on company studies showing Kadcyla delayed the progression of breast cancer by several months. Researchers reported last year that patients treated with the drug lived 9.6 months before death or the spread of their disease, compared with a little more than six months for patients treated with two other standard drugs, Tykerb and Xeloda.

Overall, patients taking Kadcyla lived about 2.6 years, compared with 2 years for patients taking the other drugs.

FDA specifically approved the drug for patients with advanced breast cancer who have already been treated with Herceptin and taxane, a widely used chemotherapy drug. Doctors are not required to follow FDA prescribing guidelines, and cancer researchers say the drug could have great potential in patients with earlier forms of breast cancer

Kadcyla will carry a boxed warning, the most severe type, alerting doctors and patients that the drug can cause liver toxicity, heart problems and potentially death. The drug can also cause severe birth defects and should not be used by pregnant women.

Kadcyla was developed by South San Francisco-based Genentech using drug-binding technology licensed from Waltham, Mass.-based ImmunoGen. The company developed the chemical that keeps the drug cocktail together and is scheduled to receive a $10.5 million payment from Genentech on the FDA decision. The company will also receive additional royalties on the drug's sales.

Shares of ImmunoGen Inc. rose 2 cents to $14.32 in afternoon trading. The stock has ttraded in a 52-wek range of $10.85 to $18.10.

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